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The Identification Op Pactions in the British Parliamentary Labour Party 1945 - 1970

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The Identification Op Pactions in the British Parliamentary Labour Party 1945 - 1970 THE IDENTIFICATION OP PACTIONS IN THE BRITISH PARLIAMENTARY LABOUR PARTY 1945 - 1970 by PAMELA BERNARDINE WOODS B.A., University of Essex, England, 1969 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of Political Science We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA September, 1975 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purpose's may be granted by the Head of my Department or by his representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of Political Science The University of British Columbia 2075 Wesbrook Place Vancouver, Canada V6T 1W5 Date June 2, 1975 ii Abstract Many studies of the British Labour Party have emphasised disputes within the Parliamentary Labour Party and attempted to explain them. There has, however, been no attempt to apply the concept of factionalism, with criteria detailing how a faction might be identified, to a study of the Parliamentary Labour Party over a period of time. It is the aim of this paper to succinctly define the term faction; to establish criteria for the purpose of identifying factions, and to determine to what extent parties to Parliamentary Labour Party disputes could be identified as factions. Prom the definition of a faction employed, six criteria were established, against which to assess a group as a faction. Employing histories of the Labour Party, biographies and autobiographies of contemporary Labour politicians and contemporary newspapers and journals, major disputes during the years 1945-1970 were isolated and examined. It was found that there were four periods of intense Parliamentary Labour Party dispute. Applic• ation of the six criteria to groups involved in each dispute showed that four factions could be clearly identified. The policies expounded by three of these factions were identified as left-wing. One faction was identified as of the right-wing of the Labour Party. A number of implications of factionalism in the Parliamentary Labour Party were drawn. iii Contents Chapter One Introduction 1 Chapter Two Keep Left and Keeping Left 12 Chapter Three The Bevanites 24 Chapter Pour The Revisionists 43 Chapter Five The Tribune Group 57 Chapter Six Conclusions 75 Bibliography 88 Acknowledgment I am deeply indebted to Professors Arnold Beichman, Keith Banting and Ken Carty for their guidance and advice throughout the writing of this paper. I would also like to thank my mother for financing this venture and to thank Anna Green, Jack Vowles and Howard Davis for the inestimable support of their friendship during the academic year 19*74-1975. 1 Chapter One Introduction Chapter One outlines the main concerns of this paper, defines the terms which will be used throughout, and outlines the methodology to be employed. The history of the British Labour Party in Parli• ament has been, in part, a history of disputes and cleavages. The Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) has frequently aired in public its internal cleavages and disputes - disputes which have periodically threat• ened to split and destroy the Labour Party."*" This paper will address itself to assessing the extent to which disputes in the Labour Party have been factional in nature. To do this a model of factional• ism will be established. The model will comprise a rigourouS's definition of the term faction and a list of criteria in accordance with which a faction may be identified. Major disputes within the PLP will be analysed, through the application of the model, in an attempt to assess the extent to which the PLP was factionalised. The period 1945 to 1970 has been chosen. During these years the Labour Party held office for two periods, 1945-1951 and 1964-1970, and was in opposition from 1951-1964. Various students of British politics have emphas• ised the cleavage-prone nature of the Labour Party and have sought to explain it. Three major causes of cleavage have been emphasised. It has been suggested that social and occupational differences among Labour 2 IPs have led to class-related attitude differences. There is also a degree of uncertainty in the Labour Party as a whole as to the location of ultimate power.- Finally, the Labour Party's intense concern with 2 ideology has "been seen as of major importance since many disputes within the Party are of an ideological 4 nature. It is not going too far to say that factions are crucial to a study of the Labour Party. However, there has been no attempt to rigourously define the term faction, to refine the concept in terms of criteria that can be empirically evaluated, and, from that perspective, to carefully assess the degree and the form of factionalism within the Labour Party over a period of years. This paper attempts that task on one level, but is not concerned with explaining the emergence of factions within the Labour Party as a whole. It seeks to identify factions that have arisen within the Parliamentary Labour Party. There are a variety of definitions of the term faction, but they all tend to emphasise common elements. A faction may be defined as a group of MPs, with an identifiable leadership, which is distinctly separate from the rest of the Parliamentary Party, by reason of organised activity, and, which seeks to promote, over a period of time, foreign and domestic policies which the faction perceives as different in principle from those espoused by others within the Parliamentary Party. Pactions can be distinguished from interest groups because the members of factions are MPs while interest group membership is not solely based in Parliament. Pactions can also be distinguished from ad hoc combinations of politicians in agreement upon one.particular issue at one moment in time: a faction promotes its policies over a period of time. A faction may also be distinguished from an intra-party alliance of MPs, allied to work for the replacement of party policy on only one particular issue.^ The above definition of a faction suggests six 3 criteria by which factionalism in the PLP may be identified: 1. the members of a faction are MPs 2. the leaders can be identified 3. the faction is organised in order to promote its policies 4. other members of the PLP are aware of its existence 5. the faction promotes a range of policies which the faction perceives as different in principle from those espoused by others in the PLP 6. the faction promotes its policies over a period of time These criteria should be considered in greater detail. 1. Membership: it should be quite straightforward to determine whether the members of a faction are MPs by reference to lists of Labour MPs published in Labour Party Annual Conference Reports. However, the total membership of a faction may not be easy to detect. Those members of a faction who participate very frequently in a faction's activities may be the only members who can be identified with any degree of certainty. The members thus identified may represent only a small proportion of a faction's total membership. Since a faction is essentially a voluntary, unofficial group, it does not have a formal membership. There is there• fore a problem of identifying the less active members, who may identify themselves with a faction, but who may not openly provide evidence of such identification. There are several ways in which students of intra- party groups have identified group membership, for example, analysis of Parliamentary Parties by means of signatories to Early Day Motions? signatures to public letters of support for a group's policy on one 4 issue and analysis of voting figures in the House of q Commons. There are problems in using such sources. MPs may agree on one issue and sign an Early Day Motion but they are not all necessarily going to agree on other issues. An MP may be motivated to sign a publie letter of support for a particular policy for reasons other than pure concurrence with the policy; for instance, he may regard it as advantageous to his personal career. Some MPs not normally associated with a faction may support a faction's policy on one particular issue by voting with a faction in the Commons. Examination of Commons voting lists may therefore provide evidence of MPs who sympathised with a faction's policy on one issue, but voting lists cannot be relied upon to provide concrete proof of a faction's membership. Examination of a series of votes may demonstrate that a number of MPs voted together consistently, but provides tenuous evidence of group membership. Nevertheless, examination of the voting lists of a series of votes may demonstrate that a group of MPs acted together, and thus provide evidence of group activity. A faction may be able to obtain the support of varying numbers of MPs on individual issues. The problems of identification of a faction's membership led to the decision to identify member• ship somewhat narrowly, through authorship of articles or pamphlets advocating a faction's policies. The author of several articles that consistently expounded a faction's policies was considered to have identified himself as a member of a faction, and, by writing articles, to have actively demonstrated his membership. Because factional membership is so narrowly defined there will be important gaps in indications of the extent of a faction's membership.
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